Published every Three Months. Sponsored
by an International Group of Theosophists.
Objectives: To uphold and promote the Original Principles of the modern
Theosophical Movement, and to disseminate the teachings of the Esoteric
Philosophy as set
forth by H.P. Blavatsky and her Teachers.
Editor: Boris de Zirkoff.
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subscriptions, renewals and correspondence to: 615 South Oxford Avenue, Los
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Make checks and money orders payable to "Theosophia."

None of the organized Theosophical Societies, as such, are responsible
for any ideas expressed in this magazine, unless contained in an official
document. The Editor is responsible for unsigned articles only.

*

THOUGHTS
TO REMEMBER …

“But there is a citizenship to come that will be a mark of honor
recognized by all the people of all the nations; a citizenship not limited
by pride in the traditions and achievements of one nation, not circumscribed
by allegiance to just one country, but a citizenship known and honored
for its forsaking of all these lesser interests and subordinating them
all to citizenship of the world.

“Some day, and please God, some day soon, a World Council will
be formed; not a council of nations, nor of national representatives,
but a council of world citizens without national allegiances. The nations
of the world will select their most honored citizens, their greatest
national figures and, upon acceptance of appointment, they will forswear
allegiance to their countries and their sovereigns and become citizens
of the world. As world citizens, above party, race and nation, they will
take their seats upon the World Council and the interest of the world,
nothing less, will henceforth concern them. No national interest will
sway their judgment, no patriotic pride will warp their view. Great men
and women, most honored in all the world, they will serve the world alone.
Every country will welcome them as citizens greater than their own; in
every country they will be free, recognized for their sacrifice of a
lesser citizenship in the service of the world.

“To few will such honor be accorded. Few at first
will be great enough to relinquish the traditions and interests of national
citizenship, but having the confidence of the nations, these few will
show the world the way to peace and to prosperity for all peoples.” -
Sidney A. Cook, late Vice-President of The Theosophical Society (Adyar). [3]

*

LET’S KEEP TO THE ROAD!Boris de Zirkoff

The immediate future of organized Theosophy in our present-day world
depends upon the degree to which its students and workers adhere to the
original principles of the Movement and the authentic teachings which
it was organized to promulgate.

Owing to certain psychological and emotional patterns which have become
habitual to humanity over a long period of time, and which repeat themselves
in a variety of movements, the original teachings of a new spiritual
effort become distorted in time by the infiltration of numerous side-issues,
usually of a psychic type, which eventually push into the background
the authentic message of the Founder, to the advantage of new-fangled
opinions.

The Theosophical Movement of the present age is no exception. It could
hardly be expected that the long-established pattern would not affect
it, as the Movement is composed of ordinary men and women who, while
urged by spiritual aspiration and a desire to know, are nevertheless
individuals who are children of their own race, inheritors of its peculiarities
and shortcomings, and who have not surmounted the habitual patterns of
thought and emotion which the race, as a whole, is subject to. If they
had done so, the Movement would be a tremendous power in the world, a
radiant center of spirituality, and a fortress of moral strength.

To expect anything of the kind from our co-workers arid friends is
impossible and contrary to reason. We cannot alter human behavior or
human reactions by means of organized objects, goals, or bye-laws, nor
can we expect in others internal changes which we ourselves have not
experienced yet in the fullest sense of the term. We can only hope for
improvements, and point out, whenever required, what are the dangers
on the road and the pitfalls to be encountered.

And the greatest of these is psychism under all and every form.
The term needs to be defined, lest misunderstanding occurs. It should
be understood in this connection as meaning the undue and uncontrolled,
as well as unrestricted, development of extra-sensory perceptions devoid
of sound and basic spiritual knowledge, backed by strong Ethics and directed
exclusively to some impersonal and unselfish end. Such perceptions, usually
of a psychic nature, easily degenerate into mediumship, however
attractive it may be made to appear, and however little it may be identified
as such in the beginning. Psychism is not the scientifically controlled
study of, and research into, the realm of psychic manifestations and
of the hidden and latent powers of man - which is one of the objects
of the Theosophical Society. The difference between the two is subtle
and can be understood only by careful thought and without an emotional
reaction to the ideas expressed. Few people want to do it; hence they
are thoroughly confused, and either fall into psychism or laugh at you
because, they say, you are deliberately brushing aside one of the main
objects of the Theosophical Society. It simply goes [4] to show
to what extent reasoned thinking is at times clouded in people by wishful
thinking.

Subject as we ourselves are at times to “wishful thinking” and “unfounded
hopes,” we would like to see in the organized Theosophical Movement
a world-wide effort made by responsible students and workers to weed
the field of their published literature, to inspect with the greatest
possible care the value and worth of innumerable books published by the
Organizations, to determine in an impersonal way their influence upon
the reader, and to banish from sale and from usage such as promote various
patterns of psychism or encourage in the student tendencies to visions,
mediumship, physiological yoga, love of phenomena and emotional slavery
to ceremonialism under any form.

We would also like to see the organized Movement publish a number of
books and pamphlets made up of the writings of some of the early Pioneers
whose works have been out of print for more than two generations, and
whose pen produced in those days some of the truly spiritual jewels of
the original effort. Some of the finest thoughts of our Movement are
buried in oblivion, forgotten in old publications and journals, unknown
to the present generation and even unsuspected. We could have dozens
of magnificent works on hand, available to all, if this could be done,
and we could then set aside and forget a mass of other writings which
have made people laugh at the alleged Theosophical credulity and have
turned away from the organized Movement many highly intelligent people
to whom the crudity of ill-digested psychism was repugnant in the extreme.

Unless some drastic and healthy change occurs along these lines, the
organized Theosophical Movement of the age will sink to the level of
other bygone movements and efforts, which, starting on sound bases, found
themselves sooner or later meandering through all sorts of swampy grounds,
or tangled up in impenetrable psychic jungles from which there was no
escape. To achieve this healthy change much serious soul-searching will
be required on the part of many. Some cherished, but erroneous, ideas
will have to be given up. Some new concepts, considered by some to be
unorthodox, will have to be accepted for consideration. A new spirit
of inquiry will have to be aroused. A blighted enthusiasm of youthful
vigor will have to be reborn in some places, and a whole-hearted trust
in the original Ideals of the Movement will have to be enthroned anew
wherever symptoms of old age and frustration had invaded the premises
of our spiritual abode.

The Theosophical Movement is a Movement of spiritual Youth, a universal
urge for betterment, a world-wide current of regeneration, a vital force
of growth. Thus it is akin to the Sun in its power, and leagued with
the Stars in the immensity of space. [5]

*

KARMIC AGENTA Theosophist’s Proudest TitleMontague A. Machell

“Immanent Justice, in its fullest sense ,·is nothing else
but the equilibrium of the Universe, which the quivering scales express
but do not visibly achieve.” - The Middle Way.

Too many of us are prone to identify the term “Karma” with
Punishment. But if “the equilibrium of the Universe” - a
Universe dedicated to spiritual Fulfillment - is an ultimate objective,
the effect of that objective on the individual must be education,
rather than punishment. Our most important touchstone for the penetration
of this statement is, at the moment, the Law of Cycles.

If we can accustom ourselves to enormous periods of time in which spiritual
unfoldment pursues a wave-like pattern - up and down, with each peak
slightly higher, and each valley slightly less abysmal than the last
- then we have a reasonably sane approach to life’s ultimate mysteries.
KARMA, in terms of seed sown, whose fruit must be harvested, reminds
us that it is the part of wisdom to achieve a degree of skill in utilizing
the present seed-time as a means to wiser growth and wiser sowing. Especially
since each one of us, to some extent, at least, is confronted with a
vast amount of fruit we are required to harvest. It cannot be
sold or done away with. It has to be used. But, to the
extent that these profound Theosophical truths of right living have been
absorbed, while intelligently dealing with past Karma, we shall be sowing
sweeter, healthier seed for future lives.

Turning our attention now to Karma in relation to the Law of Cycles,
as applied to the race, the Ancient Wisdom-Religion reminds us that,
as a race, we have descended to the nadir of a major cycle, sinking to
Kali-Yuga, the Age of Iron. This represents the full-flowering of selfishness
and materialism - the super- abundant·harvest of unwise sowing
in past lives. We are confronted with its fruit. It is ours because we
sowed the seed. It cannot be ignored, denied, or wished away. It must
be used!

The one ray of sunlight in this dark picture is this: the curve of
this cycle, having reached its lowest point; can go nowhere but up! The
enlightened Theosophist, recognizing this fact, takes courage from the
fact that every thought, aspiration or purpose of his that is selflessly
creative, has the gathering momentum of a rising cycle to increase its
potential.

The fruit of past sowing is here to be wisely utilised. It cannot be
discounted or dismissed. Cause and Effect must correspond absolutely.
In the case of most of us, the mystery of sowing nothing but good seed
is·still unfathomed; though many, if not most of us are moved
with a deep desire to sow wisely and beneficently. In this, as in lesser
dilemmas, agonizing over conditions we are powerless immediately to change,
is utterly futile. But to accept complete responsibility for the harvest
to come, is to take advantage of the up-trend of the [6] cycle;
complete absorption in identifying oneself with that trend leaves one
little time or opportunity to fret about conditions as they exist today.

H. P. Blavatsky declares the Ancient Wisdom-Religion to be the assembled
truths concerning man and his universe inscribed in the world’s
most ancient scriptures, far antedating “organized” religion,
whether of east or west, by Initiates of an age incalculably remote.
That Age she identifies as an era of sublime spiritual enlightenment,
when there roamed the earth a humanity newly descended from purely spiritual
entities, now imprisoned in physical bodies. Those teachings accentuating
Cyclic Law, postulate a descending cyclic arc from pure spirit to the
prevailing materialism characterising this era of Kali-Yuga. The same
doctrine of cyclic descent (subject to lesser intermediate cycles), postulates
an ascending cycle returning to the spiritual summit from which these
entities descended. These cyclic arcs involve an eternally conflicting
dichotomy of Spirit and Matter, every man being empowered to ally himself
with the one or the other.

Since the Ancient Wisdom-Religion declares this dichotomy to be inescapable
by any spiritual entity in a material universe, it becomes clear that “Progress” in
its deepest sense, must mean allying oneself with this rising cycle of
spiritual awareness. This means the acceptance of Cyclic Law and its
application to one’s own personal life. All other “good works” will
grow out of it. Such acceptance marks the disciple as “growth-oriented” and
entitles him to the name of ‘Karmic Agent.”

What actually determines a man’s place in the arena of life today
is his positive identification with the rising cycle or his willingness
to mope in the shadows of materialistic frustration - whether to work with spiritual
law or against it.

To be sure, greed, selfishness, strife, cruelty and ruthlessness are
all-powerful on every hand. The latest refinements and expertise in human
destruction are receiving priority everywhere. Revolution and war are
the fashion of the times. But, why not? Hasn’t each one of us,
for ages and generations been sowing the seed of these evils?
What fruit can we expect from such seed? Are not many of us even in this
hour, in our thinking and willing, nurturing such seed – “Agents
of Human Stupidity,” fostering the fruits of stupidity, instead
of instruments of redemption in a Rising Cycle of man’s destiny?
In this Hour of Choice, however small, indirect and seemingly futile
our choice may appear, it is the first step we can take - a step that
changes us from an obstacle against which the rising tide must battle,
to a conscious source of power sweeping onward with the tide.

One of the hardest of all lessons we have to learn is “Non-attachment
to results.” The lesson of not insisting on seeing the fruits of
our sowing and having it acknowledged here and now. We have to realize
that in the long slow process of human unfoldment, any seed we sow will
require ages and generations to fructify. We shall not be here in these
bodies. But in that birth that brings us back to this earth in another
incarnation, [7] whatever fairer prospects or nobler attainments
we witness about us, we shall have helped to bring to fruition. No effort
is wasted. “Duty is that which is due to humanity.” To
the degree that we glimpse the sublime ultimate destiny of the race,
to that degree the realization of the pattern must become our religion,
with no quid pro quo! “To live to benefit mankind is the
first step.” Because “Brotherhood is a fact in nature,” because each
and all of us have our roots in a single Divine Source, we share a single
destiny - Spiritual Realization as one human race; Being one,
we cannot achieve our highest destiny as separate personalities. We are
borne up on a single tide of Fulfillment, each rising by his own efforts,
yet always as part of a Whole.

The self-acknowledged “Karmic Agent” is he who has surrendered
to the sublime Pattern of Fulfillment; he has cast himself on tile Karmic
Tide - that irresistible tide of ultimate Enlightenment that is at this
very moment beginning its upward curve towards its new spiritual apogee.
This is no fanatic’s fantastic dream. It is the fulfillment of
Eternal Law - a mode of manifestation of THE ABSOLUTE.

*

PATHWAYS OF LIGHTL. Gordon Plummer

[Excerpts from an unpublished MS, entitled Theosophy in a Modern
World.]

“For Mind is like a mirror - it gathers dust while it reflects.
It needs the gentle breezes of Soul Wisdom to brush away the dust of
our illusions.” - H. P. Blavatsky, The Voice of the Silence.

I have a small mirror in my hand. I lay it face down on the ground,
and there is no depth of reflection. Little light, if any; can reach
the polished surface. I take the mirror up and look at the image of myself.
The reflection in the mirror is somewhat deeper. The science of optics
tells us that the depth of reflection equals the distance of the mirror
from the object. Now I turn the mirror so that it reflects the people
around me. The depth of reflection has grown, but it can be greater.
I turn the little glass so that it reflects the trees, the hills and
the lake. How much deeper is the reflection now! Now, I take it out into
the night, and turning it upward it reflects within the few square inches
of glass all the majesty and beauty of the heavens. Need I point out
the lesson? When the mind is turned to things of the earth alone, how
shallow are its reflections, and how little light is received. Turn the
mind in questioning toward ourselves, and at once we are confronted with
the great mystery that is Man. But still we are shallow in our thinking
if that is limited to a consideration of oneself alone. Turn the mirror
of the mind so that it inquires into the mystery of human life around
us, and at once it broadens its scope of reflection. One may develop
deeper understanding born of sympathy for one’s fellow men. [8] As
the understanding grows there may come an awareness of the Divinity that
is at the heart of each man. Then turn the mirror of our minds so that
it takes in all life. How profound are the thoughts that are in the minds
of those Great Ones who have encompassed the mysteries of Nature! And
lastly, turn the mind upwards, in contemplation of the Infinite, and
there is no limit to the reaches of thought that the awakened mind may
experience.

We may follow these “reflections” with a story.

There is a valley fringed all about with high mountains. The sun has
not yet risen so the valley is still in the semi-darkness of twilight.
But One who was eager for the sunlight has scaled a high mountain, and
he can see beyond the valley into the region of the rising sun. He carries
a mirror with him, and he catches a ray of the sun that already he can
see, and he sends it down into the valley.

A few of those in the valley have caught this ray in their own mirrors,
and spread the light to others. They say:

“The Sun will surely rise. Has not our Brother caught its light
and sent it down to us, like a promise of great things to come?”

Others argued the matter this way and that, not believing, but while
they argued, the sun rose anyway, for who can hold back the dawn?

* * *

I will now try to tell you something about the relationship between
Teacher and pupil. This touches on a matter that is dear to the heart
of every Theosophical student, because it is the hope that all shall
be worthy some day to enter into this holy relationship. Very, very few
in the West understand the first thing about it. It is a serious thing
that cannot be entered into lightly, and that will convey something of
the great responsibility that is undertaken by the teacher as well as
by the pupil.

The makeup of the western mind is not conducive to
the state of discipleship. Go into your average school and watch the
relationship between the teacher and his pupils. Recognizing that there
are exceptional teachers, and giving them full credit for the magnificent
work they are doing, how many have grasped the first principles of right
education? How many of them stop and think of the etymological meaning
of the word? E-ducation, from the Latin, e, out, ducere,
to lead, or, more precisely, the act of leading outward what is within
the pupil himself. This refers to the faculties of intelligent and constructive
thought that are native to the pupil. Obviously there is much that the
pupil must be given, largely the fruits of the lives of pioneers that
lived before him. But all of this is a challenge, when rightly presented,
whereby the pupil develops within himself what is already latent, the
faculties and powers that will one day enable him to contribute in his
own turn to the wealth of knowledge that is now available.

The same is true in principle of the occult relationship that exists
between Teacher and Pupil. This relationship means nothing if it does
not quicken the growth of the pupil and lead him to develop vastly greater
powers that are already latent within himself. The Teacher can teach
by virtue of having experienced the growth of these same [9] faculties
when he was a pupil. Else, how is he qualified?

Now, in the early days of the Theosophical Society great emphasis was
laid upon the relationship between Teacher and Pupil, and this relationship
was called Chela-ship, the pupil being called a Chela. It is a Sanskrit
word, another form being Chetaka or servant. Through no fault
of the Teachers themselves; there was an aura of fantasy built around
the whole idea, and many who knew nothing at all of the problems confronting
them, dashed madly into the pursuit of Chelaship, and were grievously
disappointed when their supplications were refused.

Please believe me, there is little glamour to be found in Chelaship.
It involves hard work and stern discipline all the way, and if any doubt
this, study the life of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, who was undoubtedly
the outstanding Chela in modern times. Few could go through the trials
that she experienced, and few could have given the message to the world
that she brought.

What then is the incentive to Chelaship? I believe that it arises from
deep within the nature of the aspirant. It arises from the fact that
within each human heart is a hunger for more light. This hunger may not
be entirely pure, but it is there nevertheless. With this hunger, there·is
also an awareness, deeply hidden, that there are those who are in possession
of the light that is sought. Therefore there is an appeal. No appeal
if made unselfishly can be ignored, but on the other hand no one can
be allowed to rush into something so serious without full preparation,
and this includes an understanding of the perils involved. These perils
are psychological and emotional, rather than physical, although there
may be physical reactions too.

When one has a true aspiration toward Chelaship, untainted with selfishness,
he is watched. He may be quite unaware of the fact, but it is nevertheless
true. He may be much closer too it than, he thinks. He may be at the
very brink, and not suspect it at all. The awareness itself must come
very gradually, and must be the outgrowth of previous experience. Is
it possible that a student may know? There is one hint that has been
given. He may not know directly, but he may surmise, because as he approaches
the portal, he will be given things to do. Work will become apparent
to him; and his fitness will be judged by the manner in which he performs
that work. That is the first step.

Actually, the matter of outward knowledge of the state of chelaship
is not the most important thing. Chelaship is a matter of the inner consciousness.
It is the inner man which experiences chelaship, and it is a thing that
grows upon him in the silence of his hours of meditation and service.

And where does the Teacher stand? There can be no doubt that he is
keenly aware of his responsibilities. This is far from a one-sided relationship.
The Teacher is aware that his influence is far-reaching. The growth of
the pupil must go on through life-times of work, and an idea sown now
in the mind of the pupil may be a seed that will come too fruition lives
hence. Therefore these seeds are sown with care.

Here then, is the final thought. Actually the Teacher as described
is secondary in importance. The most [10] important thing is the
fact that within the pupil there is the latent teacher. The work of the
Guru, as he is called in the East, is to bring that pupil to an awareness
of his own inner teacher. When the pupil can stand before his inner Guide
in an attitude of learning, he has discovered for himself an age·old
truth: The fountain of knowledge is within. The real Teacher is within
the heart of the student, and the highest work that an outward Teacher
can perform is to bring the pupil to a knowledge of his own inner Self.
Then the pupil becomes a teacher in his own turn. Thus is the work carried
on.

*

REAL KNOWLEDGEDamodar K. Mavalankar

[This illuminating article, written by Damodar in February, 1885; shortly
before he left for Tibet , is taken from the recently published work: Damodar
and the Pioneers of The Theosophical Movement, by Sven Eek, See page
16 of this issue for full data about this work. - Editor, Theosophia.]

The important question: What is Real Knowledge ?, should be answered.
Many people confound physical seeing with knowledge. They do not think
deeply enough to discover that one may see a thing and not know
it, while he may know a thing and yet not see it.

True perception is true knowledge. Perception is the capacity of the
soul; it is the sight of the higher intelligence whose vision never errs.
And that can be best exercised in true serenity of mind, as Mahatma K.H.
observes: “it is upon the serene and placid surface of the unruffled
mind that visions gathered from the invisible, find a representation
in the visible world.” In short - as the Hindu allegory has it
- “It is in the dead of night that Krishna is born.”

In Occultism, Krishna represents the Christ Principle; the Atma of
the Vedantins, or the seventh principle; the Logos of the Christians
- the Divine Spirit, who is the manifested Son of the unmanifested Father.
In the dead of night, that is, when there is complete physical and mental
rest, when there is perfect quiet and peace of mind. It is only then
that the individuality of man - his higher nature - becomes a fit vehicle
for the manifestation of The Word. This is what is meant in the Bible
where it says that we must try to obtain “redemption through Christ.” The
Divine Principle in man is indivisible; the human soul is universal.
He who would live and enjoy eternal life must live in and unite the human
soul with the Divine Principle. Therefore, a sense of personal isolation
brings on death and annihilation, while genuine unselfish philanthropy
places the individual in touch with the Divine Spirit, and thus gives
him eternal life. The Divine Spirit is all-pervading, and those who put
themselves en rapport with the Divine Spirit are necessarily en
rapport with all other entities who are also en rapport with it.
Hence, the Mahatmas, who are conscious of the Logos, are in constant
magnetic [11] relation to those who succeed in extricating themselves
from the lower animal nature; and, by evolving the higher manas (the
mind, the fifth principle of the occultist), to unite it permanently
with buddhi and atma, the sixth and the seventh principles mentioned
in the occult doctrine. It is by this means that the Mahatmas must first
be known. What is a Mahatma? Is it his physical body? No! The physical
must perish, sooner or later. But the Mahatma lives in his higher individuality
and, to know him truly, he must be known through that individuality in
which he is centered. The body is merely a fulcrum of the lever through
which physical results have to be produced. But, for him, the body is
like a house. He inhabits it so long as it serves his purpose.

Knowledge increases in proportion to its use. That is to say, the more
we teach, the more we learn. In the same manner, the more that an organ
is exercised, the greater is its functional activity increased; provided,
of course, that too much is not expected of it at once. So also is the
will strengthened, the more it is exercised; and the more one meets with
temptation - which can only be possible if he lives with his companions
- the greater opportunities has he of exercising, and thereby strengthening
the will. In this process, there does come a time when the constitution
of one is changed as to incapacitate him for work on the physical plane.
He must then work upon it, through·higher planes into which he
must retire. But until that time arrives he must be with humanity, and
unselfishly work for their real progress and advancement. This alone
can bring true happiness.

*

FROM LETTERS TO A FRIENDW. Emmett Small

Conquering the Self -

... Yes, I believe in the forgetting of the lower nature, or, shall
we say, treating it a little cavalierly. Maybe it is better to say, treat
it as a child. You can’t ignore a child (in fact it takes a lot
of attention), but your reactions to a child are different from those
to an adult. You don’t get quite so emotionally involved; and from
your pinnacle of adulthood you are able to look down it little condescendingly,
or at least understandingly. That is not quite the right word, but you
have the feeling that you’ve been through it yourself to some degree,
and that the child must do the same - in his own way - and that you’d
better not get too het up about it: it will all work out in time; yet
you want to help, to lead, to guide - if you can. So with your lesser
selves, what we rather crudely call our lower nature. These parts of
us are our children; yet they have a line of evolution all their own,
and by hook or crook they are going to advance on the long pilgrimage.
We can help and guide and lead, but to what extent should we identify ourselves
with what in a sense is less than our today-selves? As the wisest teachers
suggest, we should seek to forget the lower.

It comes down, in the long run, to taking oneself in
hand and advancing on the Path. When one [12] consciously tries
to do this, as you know from experience, you have whistled at the mountain
peaks, and avalanches begin to fall. But even if you should fail,
such failure should not be considered as failure. You have dared and
you have been temporarily knocked out of the fight for a while, but you
will recover and will have, as back-memory to help you in a future life,
the stored knowledge of the past which will give you added strength and
wisdom. The subtle distinction between the Pratyeka path and the path
of the Buddha of Compassion in this regard is all-important. I feel in
my bones we set in motion those currents which have already decided this
for us. I don’t want to
sound fatalistic in this sense; but I have a hunch (I could be wrong)
that ages ago we chose as unselfconscious gods, and that we are now working
out the effects of that choice (by making new choices, of course). Possibly
G. de P. would say this is wrong, and that, at ANY moment you can choose
the unselfish spiritual path rather than the personal spiritual path.
As dear old Charlie Ryan used to say, “It’s a difficult point”!
In other words, I think MOTIVE is all (just as Shakespeare said that
Ripeness is all). We can stumble and make mistakes and get hurt, and
feel neglected, and unhappy, and even hurt others unmeaningly, but if
our motive is pure and we are ready to sacrifice everything to sustaining
and strengthening and preserving that motive, we shall inevitably find
ourselves treading the Right Path. For Right Motive will bring growing
wisdom, and wisdom brings light, and light reveals ever increasing distances
along the Path.

So you see I agree with you when you say that your work has stirred
up in you more and more of the cauldron of your Self, so that in the
bubbling and boiling process you will no doubt become piercingly aware
of the contents of the cauldron. Here is where the Taliesin in you, the
all-knowing Bard who is you, will be able eventually to extract the three
drops of Wisdom which will give him the vision and the strength and the
wisdom to carryon well. I often think that true wisdom, or, perhaps better,
true reverence, is placing a being where he belongs on the Ladder
of Life. And on that Ladder of Life our several selves have different
places, so it is a part of wisdom to be able to place, quite impersonally,
and with due respect and reverence, those parts of us that are less evolved,
more child-like, on the lower rungs of the cosmic scale where they belong,
and rightly place the higher parts of ourselves where they too are native.

This you know, but, like a chat together, I am merely expressing what
I would were you sitting with me, and half such conversation is, in truth,
saving what the other fellow already knows but yet likes to hear perhaps,
and in hearing may sometimes get another slant or view on things, or,
more important, realize more fully that he understands something of your
own problem and what you have recognized as the great challenge in life.

I always laugh when I remember Dr. Edge* (* Henry Travers Edge, a personal
pupil of H. P. Blavatsky.) saying something to this effect: “When
I joined the T.S. I [13] thought I’d never become a Mahatma;
now I’m afraid I will!” This is shot full with humor and
philosophy. Certainly I feel with you, that if we knew the whole truth
of this business of conquering the self, we would give up: it would seem
an impossible task. But, then, all worthwhile tasks seem impossible in
the after-light which reveals something of what they really are and which,
if we had known at first, would have completely deterred us from tackling
the job. I don’t imagine we’d even get born at all if we
knew what was awaiting us - yet here we are!

Though Steep and Thorny …

I sat outside in the fresh Spring sunshine and read your letter. The
first thought I had was of Bach music - calm, strong, sure, clear; an
uncomplicated melody - the sutratman, so to say; beyond or within
all fuges and variations - the enduring Self that is our self. And the
first act I did was to squat down on the lawn and pull up some
grasses or weeds (nothing ‘wrong’ or ‘unnatural’ about,
them; only out of place, not belonging to that lawn). They came up easily,
because the soil had been dampened. Something in me hates to uproot even
a grass. I love to see the growing shoots, especially in Spring-time,
yet when they are out of place they do harm. It is irreverent, as I suggested
in my last letter, to accept them as occupying a place not fitting to
their svabhava and evolution. War must be declared. They must
be thrown out. Sometimes the war is violent, filled with tragic experiences;
sometimes, as this morning, it is a simple maneuver. But, the result in
the end must be the same - a greater perfection in order, beauty, a more
profound expression of wisdom. I had better not pursue the analogy or
confusion will step in, but the idea behind is simple enough. What shall
we identify ourself with - the calm music of Bach, or the excited Bolero
of Ravel? In either case we are the Warrior. We choose our own weapons.
We use our individual skills. Sometimes the weed is uprooted easily.
Sometimes the battle rages bloodily. I think after serious illness, such
as you have suffered, the elements of our Army (our composite
nature), which usually work together as a more or less confused unit,
tend to stand out in their singularness, and reveal quite distinctly
their evolutionary differences. The sensitive nature is almost overcome
with the necessity for - not only a declaration of War, but the need
of Victory, immediate Victory. The result is a painful Facing of the
Self, an ability (perhaps only temporary, but which marks the life thereafter)
to see oneself, one’s Human Self, as it is, unadorned, un-flattered,
without rouge or makeup, but also with the clear chiseled lines appreciated,
not marring them with false images, nor yet flattering them with mayavic
dreams. It is a time to call upon the calm but strong music of the Bach
within, yet rally to the cry of the ever aspiring Warrior. It is the
time for action; but, perhaps, for the simple action, though immediate,
of squatting on the lawn and uprooting a weed where the soil makes it
ready for facile uprooting, rather than a tackling, of the entire lawn
(which at one fell swoop is [14] impossible anyway). It is a time
to realize that the Immediate is part of the whole, but to realize that
to be overwhelmed by the yet unrolled Future is un-wisdom and almost
folly; yet to be sustained by knowledge that wise immediate action is
growth now, working in consonance with the Great Law. If such Right Attitude
is sustained, the Right Motive held, and action in near and immediate
ways continued as the Future unrolls and becomes the Present, the Path
becomes clearer, the inner conviction of an undying source of guidance
and inspiration become surer.

You, of Bardic power, will feel far more keenly these things, and pain
and ecstasy will be experienced in more telling degree. But first of
all, how wonderful to know at last a little of what it’s all about
- a plan, a pattern, a cosmic score, so to say, for the Architect, Musician,
Poet - that is you. And, second, and flowing from it, to know, as Edge
writes and which you quote, that with advancement the oscillation between
pain and pleasure will bring us to that point, where we arrive at the
position of “independence and poise” which is free from such
disturbance. We have identified ourselves with the music of Bach. Indeed,
as H.P.B. says so glowingly, “There is a path, steep and thorny,
but yet a path, and it leads to the Heart of the Universe ...”

No, I don’t think you are a “fool” to have lived
55 years before you fully realized what you do. G. de P. once told a
student that he was so near to breaking through to the real thing (these
are not his actual words, but merely the idea), that it only needed the
slightest push and the only barrier blocking the great step forward would
be pierced, and a new life would open up. And that goes for us all, I
feel sure. But I would not lament, nor would I grieve that that particular
moment of final push may not have come so far. It will come - and then
we shall be ready. It may not be in this life - or it may be. The Time,
the Place, and the Loved One must coincide. In the meanwhile how fraught
with beauty and promise is each passing moment, as we watch the rolling
seasons, as we lift our eyes at night to the stars, as we see the sun
set and rise and know there is a path; and as life progresses
we even learn to bless the fact that that path is steep and thorny. We
know it must be, and that therein lies the challenge and the sweetness
and the ineffable glory.

Yes, I can to some degree appreciate what you have been going through
when you speak of being conscious of being at the same time two
separate and distinct focal points of energy, two beings, yet one. I
think this feeling comes predominantly when one has gone through a siege
of pledge fever. It is a terribly disrupting process. It sears and burns
the soul; but afterwards one has a deepened vision. So be of good cheer.
Trial and even discouragement are inevitable. Suffer we must; but I like
Dr. Ross’* (*Lydia Ross, M. D., a member of the Point Loma Theosophical
Society until her death at the age of 100.) conclusion in the article
you sent me, that we may as well suffer “to a conscious purpose.” Well
said. [15]

Source of Religions …

All great religions at their emergence are a glorious core of ideas
based on truth. It is the reason for their birth. But to catch the first
pure impulse of truth that is their essence, one must retreat to their
beginnings. The nearer to their beginning, the less veiled the truth;
with passing decades and centuries the truth fades. But these religions,
vary as they do in religious and philosophic content and in revealed
teaching, have issued from a still more primal source, a mother-school.
This Source - whatever the name given it - is Theosophy, the esoteric
wisdom, the esoteric philosophy (descriptive words belittle it, yet must
be used). Theosophy is thus a closer source to truth, nearer to root· substance
and the ideative plane, more specific and clear in its revealed teaching,
less diluted, less veiled than any existent religion.

And What of Truth?

Yon refer to a recent article in a Theosophical magazine where it contends
that the first thing to realize is that “however much truth
there is in any exposition of the Ancient Wisdom, none of them contains
the whole and entire truth.” I disagree. While of course the general
statement is true, I believe the first thing is to grasp the glowing
fact that the basic teachings as given through H.P.B. and the Masters
present a design of the universe, of what life is all about, to put it
simply, of the origin, present reason for existence, and destiny of man
and all things, the part they play now on the great stage of life and
the part they are destined to play. These teachings give a general picture
which can be relied on. Details ad infinitum can be added later;
but the general picture need not be changed. This is of tremendous
importance. It is of course obvious in any outpouring of teaching or
truth that it (even H.P.B.’s exposition) “does not contain
the whole and entire truth.” It is humanly impossible for anyone
to do so in the first instance, and also humanly impossible for any human
to embrace the whole universe in his consciousness: a part cannot be
greater than the whole, though the whole in potentia is in the
part.

The other idea emphasized in the article that “the only complete
truth is that which we find and experience for ourselves” is misleading.
True, that is the way to find truth for ourselves, to build it into our
very nature, to become a part of it, to make it real. But Truth per
se exists whether we recognize it or not. And it is that TRUTH -
or a small but essential portion of it - that H.P.B. depicts in her writings.

*

He is no true friend who always eagerly suspects a breach, and is on
the watch for faults, but he is a true friend with whom you dwell as
a child at the breast of his mother; from such a friend none can aver
divide you. - From a Buddhist Scripture. [16]

*

JUST OFF THE PRESS!
DAMODAR AND THE PIONEERS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT
Compiled and Annotated by SVEN EEK

Large Octavo; xvi, 720 pages; illustrated and with copious Index. Bound
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Unique historical volume, fully documented - now available to students interested
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Damodar K. Mavalankar was an outstanding
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under the guidance of his Teacher. We learn of his efforts·to
become a perfect instrument of the Masters, of his self-sacrifices;
his mistakes and his victories. Of the many disciples on probation
at the time, we know of only one - Damodar - who did not fail.
Authoritative biographical sketches of the Founders and of other Pioneers of
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This is the only work where the life-stories of these dedicated men and women
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and their responsibility in its founding.
You will not want to miss this major contribution to our Theosophical literature.

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